


Nothing Like the Candlelight

by numba1fangirl



Series: Holiday Spirit [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Chanukah, Fluff, Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 05:23:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12381759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/numba1fangirl/pseuds/numba1fangirl
Summary: "Spock contemplated the gold-wrapped chocolate coin Jim had handed him. He wasn’t usually fond of becoming inebriated, it made it harder to control his emotions. However, if he was ever going to slip in his emotional control, the best time would be with Jim, practicing a holiday tradition.Before he could change his mind, Spock unwrapped the gelt and put it in his mouth."Or the one in which Jim and Spock have a little Chanukah fun.





	Nothing Like the Candlelight

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to make Jim Jewish! I just thought it seemed fitting. Disclaimer: I am not Jewish, however, my best friend (and beta for this fic) is Jewish, so rest assured it got read over for accuracy and cultural sensitivity. That being said, if you are Jewish and anything in this fic offends you, feel free to let me know.

“So my brother, Sam, invited us both over for Chanukah.”

Spock was enjoying his morning tea when Jim sat down with his breakfast and made this announcement.

“I do not understand. What is Chanukah?”

“It’s the Festival of Lights,” Jim explained. “It’s a Jewish holiday celebrating the rededication of the Holy Temple. It lasts eight days and every year we get together and eat fried food and light the Chanukkiah and have a good time.”

“Fascinating. Though I do not understand. What is a Chanukkiah and how is it significant?”

“A Chanukkiah is a Menorah—a special candleholder—with nine candles and we light it each night of Chanukah because when they lit the Menorah in the temple, the oil somehow lasted eight days instead of one.”

“How could the oil last eight times longer than was usual?”

Jim laughed. “That’s the point. It was a miracle, Spock.”

“I see. When is the Festival of Lights supposed to take place?”

“Um, like a week and a half? It starts on the thirteenth.”

“I was unaware that you had informed your family that we were dating, nor did I expect them to invite me to such a gathering on such short notice.”

“Do you not want to go?” Jim’s expression could only be described as a pout. “The invitation was originally just for me, but I asked for a plus one so that you could come, too. You don’t have to, though.”

“I would be honored to accompany you,” Spock assured him. “I merely meant to express surprise at the invitation. We only just met two weeks ago.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it that way. Sometimes it feels like we’ve known each other forever. Are we moving too fast?” Jim looked uncertain now. “Our first date was a holiday dinner with your parents, so I just thought it would be cool for us to spend a holiday with my family. But Thanksgiving was originally supposed to be a pretend date so I can see now how this might be too much too soon.”

“The speed at which a relationship moves is relative to the parties participating. I do not believe that our relationship is moving with undue speed and if you do not feel so either, then there is no cause for concern.”

Jim smiled and Spock could swear the room got brighter. “Alright then, it’s a date. The transport leaves at 0900 on the twelfth.”

* * *

 

They arrived at Sam’s home in the Lunar One Colony on the morning of the twelfth. Sam greeted them at the door. Spock noted the family resemblance between Jim and his brother. The only real difference was Sam just had a few laugh lines and a rather large mustache.

“Hey, Jim! How's it going?” Sam said, giving his brother a hug. “And you must be Spock. Nice to meet you.”

Spock nodded. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“I’m sure you guys are hungry. Come on in, we saved some latkes for you.”

Jim grinned. “You know how much I love your latkes.”

They followed Sam into the house. “Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable,” he told them. "Jim, you know where the guest room is. Aurelan and I are almost done preparing food for Shabbat.”

“Shabbat?” Spock asked.

“It’s the Jewish sabbath,” Jim answered. “It’s a sacred day of the week, a day of rest, when we don’t do any work. And since cooking is considered work, we prepare all our meals ahead of time.”

“Why not use the replicator? Is that considered cooking?”

“No, we can’t use it because using electricity is the equivalent to lighting a fire and that’s the whole reason we can’t cook.”

“I see.”

* * *

 

The rest of the day passed by pretty uneventfully, until evening that is. Just before sunset, they all gathered together to officially begin Shabbat.

Spock was told the woman of the house was supposed to say the blessing over the candles, so Aurelan stepped forward.

_“Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melekh ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat,”_ she chanted as she lit the candles.

When the ritual was over, Jim clapped Spock on the shoulder. “Ready for evening service?”

* * *

Spock enjoyed the quiet leisure of Shabbat. He found the rituals and services fascinating. Most of all, he enjoyed watching the way Jim relaxed, as if all his stress was being washed away.

“Check.” Spock looked down at the board in surprise. It was Saturday afternoon and he and Jim had decided to pass the time with a game of chess. The problem was Spock had no idea Jim would be such a difficult opponent.

Spock stared at the board for a few moments before taking out Jim’s rook with his queen to take his king out of check.

“Ha!” Jim exclaimed. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

Spock looked at the board in confusion. “I do not understand what you mean.”

Jim just shook his head and moved his knight in a seemingly random direction. Spock countered by moving his bishop.

Jim laughed and took out Spock’s bishop with his queen. “You’re too predictable.”

Spock frowned. This move put Jim’s queen in danger. It didn’t seem logical. He used his own queen to take it.

Jim grinned widely at this move and Spock soon learned why. “Checkmate,” Jim declared, sliding his knight into place. Spock couldn’t figure out where he went wrong.

Spock was still puzzled when Sam entered the room and announced that it was time for Havdalah.

“What is Havdalah?” Spock asked.

“It’s the ritual marking the end of Shabbat,” Jim told him. “Guess this means you’ll have to demand your rematch later.”

“Jim, I was not—”

“It’s okay, Spock,” Jim interrupted. “We all lose sometimes.” He winked and got up to follow Sam.

If Spock weren’t Vulcan, he might have rolled his eyes.

* * *

After Havdalah, they lit the Chanukkiah for the first night of Chanukah. When they were finished, Spock noticed Jim quietly staring at the candle.

“Is something the matter, Jim?” he asked.

Jim shook his head. “No, I just like looking at it. Lighting the Chanukkiah is my favorite part of Chanukah. There’s just something about the candlelight, you know?”

Spock couldn’t put it into words, but he knew what Jim meant. There was something mesmerizing about the small flame. He moved closer to Jim and watched with him.

After a moment, Jim reached out and stroked Spock’s fingers. The touch felt like electricity, shooting up Spock’s arm and spreading warmth through his whole body. He could feel his face turning green.

Jim smiled at Spock’s reaction. “How about that rematch?”

* * *

Spock was usually open to trying new things and following cultural and religious traditions. That is until Jim approached him one afternoon and pulled something out of a small bag.

“It’s called gelt.” Spock looked at the small golden coin Jim was offering him, the smell of chocolate making him apprehensive.

“What is gelt?”

“It’s chocolate money,” Jim explained. “It’s a Chanukah tradition.”

“Jim, you are aware of how chocolate affects me.”

“Don’t worry, I got some whiskey, so we’ll be in this together.”

Spock contemplated the gold-wrapped chocolate coin Jim had handed him. He wasn’t usually fond of becoming inebriated, it made it harder to control his emotions. However, if he was ever going to slip in his emotional control, the best time would be with Jim, practicing a holiday tradition.

Before he could change his mind, Spock unwrapped the gelt and put it in his mouth.

“That’s the spirit!” Jim said cheerily, clapping Spock on the shoulder and taking a shot of whiskey straight from the bottle. Then his eyes suddenly lit up like he got an idea. “We should play a drinking game! Or in your case, a chocolate game.”

“I am not sure that would be wise.”

“Come on, Spock! It’s Chanukah and we’re not going anywhere! Now what game should we play? Oh! I think I have a dreidel somewhere!” Jim tossed the bag of gelt on the coffee table and ran into the other room, only to return with an oddly shaped object.

“What is that?” Spock asked.

“It’s a dreidel,” Jim explained. “Okay, so we’re going to modify the rules to this game a little. So you spin the dreidel and if _shin_ is facing up, you take a shot—or eat gelt in your case. If _he_ is facing up, the other person takes a shot. For _gimel_ we’ll both take a shot, and if _nun_ comes up neither of us will.”

Jim pointed at each of the Hebrew letters on the dreidel as he explained and Spock nodded his understanding.

Jim grinned. “This is going to be fun.”

* * *

Sam found them a couple hours later, completely drunk. Spock didn’t remember when, but at some point, Jim’s shirt had come off. When Sam walked in Jim was laughing so hard he was crying and Spock was just trying and failing to spin the dreidel.

“Jim, the dreidel is broken,” Spock said.

“Uh, I don’t think it’s the dreidel that’s broken,” Sam said.

“Sam!” Jim exclaimed. “Did you know I love Spock? He’s so smart and adorable and funny.”

“Vulcans are not funny,” Spock protested, still trying to spin the dreidel.

Jim found that hilarious and fell off the couch laughing. “See what I mean?”

“Okay, that’s enough for both of you,” Sam told them, taking away the whiskey and the gelt.

“Awww! No! We weren’t done playing!” Jim whined.

“Jim, perhaps your brother is right. The dreidel is broken in any case.” Spock tried to stand up and somehow tripped over Jim. They ended up in a tangled mess on the floor.

“Okay, time for bed,” Sam announced.

“Can Spock come with me?” Jim asked.

“If he wants,” Sam answered.

“I will go with Jim,” Spock said. “It is hard to sleep without Jim.”

“Is it now?” Sam said as he helped them both up. Even in his drunken state, Spock could hear the amusement in Sam’s voice. He was vaguely aware that he’d said something embarrassing. At the moment though, he was having trouble caring.

* * *

The next morning, Spock felt like his head was going to be split in two. He buried his face into the back of Jim’s neck and tried not to move too much. Jim stirred.

“Ugh, Spock, make it stop,” Jim groaned.

“Jim, please do not speak so loudly,” Spock whispered. “What do you wish for me to stop?”

“This headache!” Jim’s voice was too loud. It was like needles in Spock’s brain.

“We are both suffering from what humans call a hangover. Hydrating is the best remedy.”

“Okay yeah, we need to hydrate, but I know the REAL best remedy.” Jim got out of the bed suddenly, jarring Spock and making his headache worse.

“Jim, please.”

“That was a mistake,” Jim said and he sat down on the floor for a moment. “I got up way too fast.”

“Lower your voice.”

“Alright I’ll be right back.” He got back up, slowly this time, and left the room.

About ten minutes later he came back with two glasses full of something Spock didn’t recognize.

“What is that?” he asked.

“It’s my hangover remedy,” Jim answered, handing him a glass. “Drink up.”

Spock looked at the glass apprehensively. The last thing Jim had offered him was the gelt and that’s exactly what had given him this hangover in the first place. He took a sniff, but there were too many ingredients for him to make out what any of them were. After a moment he took a deep breath and took a large gulp.

It tasted revolting.

“Jim, what is this made from?” he asked.

Jim winked. “It’s my secret recipe, Spock.”

Spock raised his eyebrow and drank the rest. His stomach did not feel very good.

After a moment, he felt a lurch in his gut and dashed to the bathroom. He barely made it in time before all the gelt from the night before came back up.

“Spock!” Jim exclaimed. “Spock, are you alright?”

Spock was too busy trying to hold back another bout of vomit to respond. He didn’t succeed.

“Sam! Something’s wrong with Spock!”

“What’s going on?” Sam asked as he came in the room, closely followed by Aurelan. “Oh no, is he sick?”

“I’m going to call Bones,” Jim said.

Spock gave up hope of retaining any of his dignity.

“Bones!” Jim said into the comm, “Spock is sick!”

“What’s wrong with him?” Spock recognized the doctor’s gruff voice.

“He won’t stop throwing up!” Jim told him.

“What did he eat?” McCoy asked.

“Well last night he ate a lot of gelt and this morning I gave him one of my hangover remedies,” Jim explained.

Spock could hear the doctor’s exasperated sigh even from his position by the toilet. “You can’t give him those!” McCoy chastised. “Vulcans can’t eat chicken eggs!”

“What? I didn’t know that! Spock, why didn’t you tell me that?” Jim demanded. Spock only groaned in reply.

“ _I_ could’ve told you that,” said Aurelan.

“How do you know that?” Jim asked.

“I took a class on exobiology,” she said.

“Bones, is Spock going to be okay?” Jim asked. “I can’t believe I did this.”

“It’s okay,” McCoy reassured him. “He’ll be alright. Just let him finish vomiting and then give him some water, but don’t let him drink it too fast. And after about half an hour you can try giving him something light to eat, something easy on the stomach. He should be fine after that.”

“Thanks, Bones,” Jim said. “You’re a life saver.”

“That’s literally my job, Jim.”

Jim smiled. “I’ll talk to you later, Bones.”

“I’ll go get him some water,” Aurelan offered.

“Thanks, Aurelan,” Jim said as he knelt next to Spock.

“Let us know if you need anything else,” Sam told them. Jim nodded his acknowledgement and they left the room.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Jim said as he started rubbing Spock’s back.

“It is not your fault,” Spock managed to gasp. “You did not know.”

“I still feel bad. Hey, how about after we get you cleaned up and get you some water, we can cuddle in bed and read a book?”

“I would like that.”

Spock was feeling better, so he straightened up and Jim helped him stand, though Spock assured him it wasn’t necessary. Right about then, Aurelan came back with a glass of water and Spock sipped it as Jim led him to bed.

“I’ll be right back,” Jim told him as he tucked him in. “I’m going to go get a PADD for us to read from.”

“Thank you, Jim.”

Jim wasn’t gone very long before he came back with a PADD in his hand and a plate of toast. “I thought toast would probably be a good thing for you to nibble on if you got hungry,” he said, placing the toast on the nightstand and sliding into bed next to Spock. Then he held up the PADD. “And this is one of my favorite Terran novels. I thought you might like it if I read it to you.”

“I would like that very much, Jim.”

Jim smiled and began to read, _“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…”_

And suddenly Spock was a small child again, curled up in bed with his mother and his sister Michael as she read _Alice in Wonderland_ to them. He settled in closer to Jim and let his voice soothe him.

_“…nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”_

* * *

A couple nights later, Jim and Spock were sitting under the Chanukkiah, nearing the end of the book. The soft glow of the PADD lit up Jim’s face and Spock watched the candlelight dance on the PADD’s screen as Jim read.

_“Then the dwarves themselves brought forth harps and instruments regained from the hoard, and made music to soften his mood; but their song was not as elvish song, and was much like the song they had sung long before in Bilbo’s little hobbit-hole.”_

Then Jim began to sing, and the sound was even more soothing to Spock than his reading voice. Before he knew it, he was falling asleep against Jim’s shoulder.

It felt like only moments before Jim gently nudged him awake. “Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s go to bed.”

Spock nodded sleepily and allowed Jim to lead him away.

That night he dreamt of dwarves and dragons and far away places.

* * *

The last day of Chanukah passed as peacefully as the first did, as it was once again Shabbat. Before long, they were all gathering round for their last meal before Havdalah.

After the blessing, Sam proposed a toast. “To family, to our faith, and to the spirit of the season. Thank you all for making this Chanukah a memorable one.”

“Well said, Sam,” Jim said, raising his glass with the rest of them. Spock agreed. He knew he would never forget the week he spent here with Jim and his family. He looked around the table at everyone’s smiling faces and felt perfectly at home.

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to The Hobbit for the excerpts from the novel Jim was reading. Also you may be asking, "Why does Sam live on the moon?" Good question. At this point in time, Sam wouldn't have been living at Deneva yet, but there's no indication in canon about where he was living before that, so I thought it was a fun idea to have him live on the moon.


End file.
